


sing us a song, you're the piano man

by blackfeatherquills



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Human AU, M/M, Sastiel - Freeform, this is garbage sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfeatherquills/pseuds/blackfeatherquills
Summary: sam is a college drop out playing piano to pay the bills. castiel is a recent police academy graduate who appreciates a good pianist.updates will resume with summer!





	1. Chapter 1

He’d spent his whole life rebelling against his father’s plan, and now he felt as if all his hard work had gone to waste. 

Sam Winchester eyed the piano bench uneasily. Sure, this wasn’t exactly working at the “family business” at his dad’s car shop, but then again, it wasn’t exactly becoming a hot-shot lawyer and having his own practice by the time he was 28. 

He cracked his knuckles uneasily, and took another cautious glance around the bar before he sat, lifting the cover off the keys, hands hovering over the keys, struggling to remember a melody. He hadn’t had a formal piano lesson since he was fourteen, when they couldn’t afford it anymore no matter how many odd jobs Dean had offered to pick up. And now he was 23, with no college degree and no family. He couldn’t bear to walk back to them, to admit to his dad that he was right, and pick up the family trade silently with no complaint. He couldn’t bear to feel Dean’s eyes on him, and feel the weight of the guilt that came from knowing that all the money Dean had saved for him to go to school had all been for naught any more than he already did. 

Dean...the name twisted a knot in his throat and stomach. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he lowered his fingers to the keys, allowing a familiar melody to flow from them. A piano rendition of an Asia song Dean had loved, one that he’d kept up with even after the lessons had stopped. Cliche, perhaps, but a dive bar wasn’t the sort of place one played Fur Elise. 

It really was like riding a bike. The more he played, the more at ease he felt on the bench, and with every key he pressed, the more the pain of missing Dean faded away. A few men even sauntered up to the piano and dropped a few dollars in the jar that said TIPS in the owner’s slanted handwriting. 

The time flew by, and before he knew it the owner’s hand was on his shoulder. “Not bad for your first day, kid,” he said gruffly before slapping a stack of twenties down on the lid of the piano. Sam couldn’t help but smile, as he rose and closed the cover back over the keys, stuffing the twenties and his tips into the pockets of his worn jeans. 

“Hey.”

Sam glanced up. In front of him stood a man with tousled brown hair and the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. He wore a tan trench coat, thrown over what was clearly a police uniform. He looked young, about Sam’s age. 

“Can I help you officer?” he asked cooly. Suddenly, his night’s payment felt heavier in his pocket. Working under the table, even as a pianist, was technically illegal. And he really needed this job, or it wouldn’t be long before he was out on the street. 

“I...I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the piano. I’ve never heard anyone play like that before.”

“Yeah,” Sam snorted. “I was a little rusty, but hey I did do my best.”

“It was perfect,” the officer said softly, and Sam’s chest felt tight all of a sudden, like he was about to cry but better. “Do you have a business card…..or maybe just a phone number?” he asked, cracking a smile, lifting his hand and running his hand through his dark feathery hair. “I’m Castiel Novak, by the way,” the officer said. 

“Oh, yeah,” Sam said, rummaging around in his jeans pocket for a piece of paper. Grabbing a pen from a nearby table he scribbled down the number of the hotel he was staying in and SAM WINCHESTER in rushed, slanted handwriting. He handed Castiel the scrap paper. “It’s no business card but...call anytime. I mean it.”

Castiel slipped the paper into the pocket of his coat and turned to leave. Stopping at the door, he turned back to Sam, his blue eyes glimmering. “I will call. That’s a promise.”

The door swung shut and Sam smiled to himself. 

Maybe all his hard work had finally amounted to something.


	2. Chapter 2

When the phone rang, Sam wished that he could have said he’d stayed calm and let it ring a few times before he picked it up. What really happened was he dove across his bed and snatched it up right after the first ring. 

“Hello? This is Sam Winchester.”

“Um….hello. This is Castiel. The cop. From the bar.”

“Oh, hey Castiel,” Sam said, reclining back against the bed. He didn’t know who he was putting on this show of nonchalance for - he was alone in his room, and besides, Castiel couldn’t see him over the phone. It was okay for him to be….nervous? He wasn’t exactly sure what this feeling was, but he wasn’t sure that he minded it. 

“I was just calling to say again how nice your piano playing was. A friend of mine on the force is getting married, and his band just cancelled on him last minute….I know that just a pianist at a wedding isn’t really traditional but….”

“...I”m not exactly a traditional pianist,” Sam finished. He could hardly contain his excitement. A new job! And a chance to meet Castiel again. Maybe things really were going to work out for him after all. “I’d love to play the wedding.”

“Excellent,” Castiel said. Sam scribbled down the time and date, and hung up the phone. With a grin, he rested his hands behind his head, suddenly feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. 

He hadn’t felt this good since school. In college, he’d felt that his life was on track. Everything had been going right for him, until his advisor had called him down to her office on the last day of fall semester. 

Sam could still see it now - the downturned, tight lips and pitying glance. “Sam,” she said, sympathetically as he sat down. “I have some bad news for you.”

“Bad news?” he’d said, furrowing his brows. What kind of bad news could she have? His grades were great, he was adjusting well, and surprisingly, he’d stayed out of trouble. The idea of finally being free, finally being on his own had driven him far more than any moral code his father had tried and failed to drill into him. 

“Yes. The partial scholarship that you’ve been here on? Unfortunately the donor has backed out. We can no longer afford you half of your tuition. We’re very sorry Sam. You’re an excellent student. It’s not a question of achievement, we just simply don’t have the funds.”

She’d smiled again at him. “You’ll be alright Sam. You’re a high achiever. I’m sure that you can figure out a way to make this work.”  
He could still taste the bitter disappointment, still feel the hard lump in his throat when he thought of how hard he’d worked, how hard Dean had worked to put him through school. But he couldn’t ask that much of Dean. He knew that Dean would do it, do anything to make sure that he was happy and got the education he wanted, but he just couldn’t ask any more of him.

So, Sam had put his dreams of becoming a lawyer aside, as much as it made his heart ache. He had to do it. He hadn’t had any other choice. 

Pushing the memory from his mind, Sam rolled over onto his side and pulled out a phonebook. He had a tuxedo to rent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that this chapter took so long to get up and is a little lackluster! I've been insanely busy and haven't had much time to write. I promise updates will be more frequent though, as long as people are still enjoying them!
> 
> thanks for all the support, it means so much!

**Author's Note:**

> i'm honestly not sure if i should make this a multi-chapter fic or just leave it as is...let me know if you want more chapters though and I'll write them!


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